Flex: May 2011 - Review

The May 2011 edition of Flex Magazine features Pro Bodybuilder Kai Greene on the cover. Dubbed the Build Old-School Muscle Issue, this issue promises gains in strength, size and focuses on arms. Kai Greene sat the Arnold Classic out this year, but that does not mean he has been idle as he has his sights set on the New York Pro this year. Flex, as always if focused on the sport of Bodybuilding and does its level best at covering as many aspects of training and competition as possible.

Best Quote: "Nobody Trains for Seventh, Eighth or Tenth." - Kai Greene p 168.

Highlight Article: "The O-Men Workouts" - Covers various workouts of Five former Mr. Olympias and analyzes why they worked. Each Mr. O (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman) is featured in one of their best body parts and then dissected as to why the workouts worked. (p 125-141)

Best Regular Feature: This month I want to highlight the NPC Report. Usually Flex has this one the back of every issue and it is a good dose of information hitting the highlights of the NPC Amateur Bodybuilding scene. It is nice to see at least one mag cover the sport's amateur side. (p.275-280)

Notable Articles:
1. A New York State of Mind: A great interview with Kai Greene. You know, I am starting to become a Greene fan, at least until he goes up against Phil Heath or Branch Warren. (p. 166-174)
2. Eat Like a Pro: You have to see this one day of diet that Phil Heath is on during the off season. I don't often say this, OMG! (p.196-205)
3. Power Circuits: A Circuit Training Workout for Bodybuilders. No kidding. (p. 180-190)

Duds:
I am not sure about this one. On the cover, there is the expression "7 Keys to the Perfect Workout". Maybe someone could point it out to me, but I couldn't find it inside the mag.

Graphic Content Review:
Solid and Varied as always from Flex. Lots of pictures and some great shots from the Arnold Classic all the way through. Flex really puts the color into things and I like that. Lots of good photos

Eye Candy:
IFBB Figure Pro Kathleen Tesori in some very good shots. This is how a bodybuilding magazine should do a photo shoot of a woman. Get one of your pros and showcase them. Playboy playmates simply look too soft and with some pros there is still some mystery to some of their parts. Not much, but some. (p. 252-258)

Rating: Four Stars. Solid in every way but nothing really says "wow!" but still good. Graphics are good and varied with tons of good shots from the Arnold Classic. Good one.

Flex: April 2011 - Review

Flex's April 2011 edition features Bikini Pro Amanda Latona on the cover as this is also the annual swimsuit edition. The special feature this month is said swimsuit photo spread with this year being about the top 15 Hot Bodies from the past fifteen years. As always, Flex also is about bodybuilding in all its forms as well as training and nutrition. It is Muscle and Fitness' big brother as as such goes a little deeper into all of the above. In addition to the ladies there is also an emphasis on chest training.

Best Quote: "Concentration and Mental Toughness ARE the Margins of Victory." - Bill Russell (11 time NBA champ) p.84

Highlight Article: "The All Time Hot List". Flex did a poll online to get the top ten all time most hot swimsuit models from the past 15 years of swimsuit issues. It actually lists the top ten in order and five other honorable mentions based on this poll. I don't want to spoil everything but the winner was Amanda Latona (that is why she is on the cover). As for the rest, buy a copy; you want the pictures anyway, right? Each of the top ten gets her own spread of one or two pages. (p. 164-188)

Best Regular Feature: "Flex Street Scene" (p.38) I like this feature as it gets some face time to young up and comers as well as a look at some people at entry level. It is always a great way to see new faces.

Notable Articles:
1. "Build a Treasured Chest" Great article not only on chest training but back training as well. The idea being to get a larger chest measurement by hitting both sides. (p. 120-138)
2. "Triple Threat" Phil Heath, Jay Cutler and Toney Freeman sound off on their chest training issues (p. 144-156)
3. "The Education of Eduardo" Brazilian Eduardo Correa da Silva lays out a full arm training regimen. (p 206-216)

Duds: No single article to point to, but the sound bite type articles that seem cluttered are back.

Graphics Content Review: Good pics and lots of them as always from Flex. They are not as crisp and clean as MMI or even their own sister mag M&F, but there are a lot of photos. The main focus of course in this months graphics was the swimsuit issue and it definitely was a collection of each lady's best shots. That of course means this issue is about the eye candy and it does a fabulous job.

Rating: 3 and three quarter stars: There was great number of training articles but the nutrition articles seemed a little thin this month. The sound bite clutter does not help this month's edition either. BUT, the girls save the day and this one should fly off shelves for that alone.

Flex: March 2011 - Review

Flex, like a lot of the bodybuilding periodicals this month, has Arnold Schwarzenegger on the cover. That also means the focus of the magazine in training like Arnold. Also as a collector's edition it promises classic shots of the man who made fitness and bodybuilding more than a small cult. The reason, of course, for all the Arnold coverage is that the Arnold Classic is the first weekend in March.

Best Quote: "Obviously, I can't train like I used to, but I am still in the gym - my home gym - five days a week, for at least an hour at a time." - Joe Weider "The Master Blaster" Age: 90 (p26) It doesn't get much more inspiring than that.

Highlight Article: Actually there is a set of three articles in a row running from page 120 to 166 which are all Arnold. The first is his eight best moments, the second is on how he trained and the third is some great photos of 'The Oak'. Great collectors stuff here.

Best Regular Feature: In Hard Times this month is a tribute to Jack LaLanne that is very well done. It was good to see all the heartfelt support for Jack and his family. (p. 52)

Notable Articles:
1. 'And The Winner Is...' Great article about the (at the time) upcoming Arnold Classic. (p. 172-188)
2. 'Back Burner' Kai Greene's Back Day. It also showed a little more of Kai's change of attitude. (p226-242)
3. "Stick to It" Good advice for people who are going into contest regarding their diet. For me as a hobby guy right now it also was good stuff about cutting. (p. 246-252)

Duds: "The Flexy Awards" given to the most 'buff' entertainers. Don't get me wrong I understand how the entertainment industry needs buff performers and they should be recognized. But some of the best ones got ignored this time, I simply disagree completely with the results.

Graphic Content Review: Good as always. With the addition of a lot of black and whites of The Oak, it is a plus. Clean and crisp photos this month on everything else. The green and black shoot is Figure Pro Felicia Romero who also happens to be this months only eye candy. Truth be told, this was a great graphics shoot showing a very strong and sexy woman. The best I have seen of the green and black this year.

Rating: I would say four and a half stars. The addition of The Oak makes it so high. Otherwise it would be four. The best graphics this month was the Felicia Romero shoot. I have come to expect this quality of work from Flex and they didn't disappoint.

Flex: February 2011 - Review

The February 2011 Issue of Flex Magazine features the 'X-Man' Toney Freeman on the cover and has the main theme of developing the X-frame. (As an aside, how a guy nicknamed 'The X-Man' because of his near perfect X-frame and proportions has never won a Mr. O is beyond me. Probably just confirms the fact that bodybuilding has a gotten a little size crazy instead of looking at overall aesthetics.) Muscle and Fitness' bigger brother also focuses on mass building. It is after all the season for mass building, unless you are headed to the Arnold Classic in Columbus, OH in early March.

Best Quote: "My Entire Body Can Always Improve" Kai Greene p. 180.

Highlight Article: 'Operation X' (p.114-132): If you are a bodybuilder and the X-frame is a problem for you, this program promises to help you out. The focus is on Delts, Legs and Abs and it is because of that, I believe that this will definitely work.

Best Regular Feature: Joe's Page (p. 26) Joe Weider has a regular column in Flex and this month it is a great one. He looks back to the July 1950 issue of Your Physique where he predicted ten things that would happen in the world of physical fitness and the importance bodybuilding would play in the future. He was very good in his predictions.

Notable Articles:
1. 'Perception of Character': I have made it no secret that I am not a big Kai Greene fan. However, I may change my tune after this article. Kai's seventh place finish at the Mr. Olympia has definitely brought a new level of humility to a man who was already pretty humble. It has also brought some new found respect from me as well.
2. 'Hell on Wheels': Ben Pukulski is one of the fastest rising stars in bodybuilding and given the intensity of his leg routine -- I can see why.
3. 'Muscle Meals': Good nutrition article to add some variety to your meals. Much Better than last time with the fast food info that was very thin.

Dud Articles:
1. None, Really. I even have to say the sound bite issue from last month is toned down a bit as well. Most of the time there is something valuable in every article.

Graphics Review:
Flex still dominates this month with the variety of photos and pictures of competitors. They definitely do good work on quality as well. The photo's of Kai Green were actually very well done and show a guy who is starting to get focused on details and symmetry and not just size. The 'green and black' outfit photo shoot I have mentioned before is of Deena Walsh and it has some incredible back and shoulder shots of the aerospace engineer/figure pro. The sexy girl spot however is taken up by Romanian bikini pro Anca Marcus.

Rating: 4 and quarter stars. This issue is solid and the graphic well done as always. The sound bite problem shows a little improvement over last month. I always like a magazine who can focus on the x-frame and mass at the same time. Well done.

Flex - January 2011 Issue - Review.

Flex Magazine is kind of the bigger brother of Muscle and Fitness. Both are produced by Weider Publications. That is where the similarity ends and as a general rule Flex is far more advanced in its content and it has as its focus bodybuilding as a sport. If there is something you want to know about bodybuilding competitors or competition, Flex probably has it. In fact, I find it at times to be cluttered with 'sound bite' type articles that give quick blurbs about something and then it is off to the next thing. The content ultimately is either intermediate or advanced training and nutrition or the sport of bodybuilding in its various forms from men's to women's (bodybuilding/figure/fitness and bikini).

The theme of January 2011's issue is arms and arm training. There is also a lot of 'looking back' articles.

Best Quote: "When the desire to succeed is in your heart, setbacks won't hold you back." -- Yenny Polanco -- Women's Fitness Competitor p. 68

Highlight Article: "Arm Yourself/Feed Yourself" p. 124-146 -- Actually this is two articles back to back but the focus of which is to provide both training and nutrition for a three week program to blast your arms to 1" growth. Everything is laid out including advice, supplements and sample meal plans. I am focused on what to do for arms later on in this year, so it caught my attention and it might be a possibility.

Notable Articles:
1. "Phil Heath's 23" Gun Salute": A good close up look at Phil Heath's arm training.
2. "Top Secret Arm Arsenal": A look at some of the better, but less known, arm exercises
3. "Pecs in the City": A close up look at Kai Greene going to the gym where he started his career and his monster chest routine.

Dud Articles:
1. Fast Food Fix: The Guide -- Trust me I understand that people may want this info but the fact is it covers only a few places and it relatively short on each one. It could have been much more in depth. Great concept, but poor execution.
2. Assortment of small articles: Its the sound bite thing that often bothers me. Its not the content of the articles that bothers me so much as the quick word, lack of depth style.

Graphic Content Review: Flex has a far more graphic content than most muscle mags. Tons of pictures of competitors and they are usually crisp and clean. Each article often has its own graphic style too and so the magazine avoids repetitive graphics. Their black and white photos are some of the best. There are two pictures of real note: Jack LaLaane is featured on page 70 from the cover of May 1950's Your Physique and an old photo of Eugen Standow on page 304 which are both classics. Probably one of the best long running photo shoots is the one Flex does with female competitors (This month it is Alicia Harris - Figure competitor) where each woman every month wears the same olive green and black workout outfit as they do their training so you get a more true comparison of how they actually look. There is of course a closer look at the online monthly winners for Flex's Bikini model search featuring the winners from month one through four. Finally, the same Met-Rx calender that was in Muscle and Fitness this month is also present here. It means I could put one side of one and the other side of the other together and have the whole year in front of me all year long, but that would almost assuredly bring about the breaking of both arms and probably other important pieces of my anatomy by Mrs. Rabyd Theologian. It too will remain in the magazine.

Rating: I always like the graphic content of the Flex magazine line and this issue is no exception. Lots of pictures an good pictures. The articles are often helpful when they are not of the 'sound bite' variety. Four stars.